Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/105

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 83 favourite encampment of Oriental princes. In the course of this successful inroad, he signalised the zeal and revenge of a Christian emperor : at his command, the soldiers extinguished the fire, and destroyed the temples of the Magi ; the statues of Chosroes, who aspired to divine honours, were abandoned to the flames ; and the ruins of Thebarma or Ormia,!"^^ which had given birth to Zoroaster himself, made some atonement for the injuries of the holy sepulchre. A purer spirit of religion was shewn in the relief and deliverance of fifty thousand captives. Heraclius was rewarded by their tears and grateful acclama- tions ; but this wise measure, which spread the fame of his benevolence, diffused the murmurs of the Persians against the pride and obstinacy of their own sovereign. Amidst the glories of the succeeding campaign, Heraclius is almost lost to our eyes and to those of the Byzantine historians.^^^ From the spacious and fruitful plains of Albania, the '^■r.peror appears to follow the chain of Hyrcanian mountains, to descend into the province of Media or Irak, and to carry his victorious arms as far as the royal cities of Casbin and Ispahan, which had Persian Ms. part ii. p. 2, 3). See the encampments of Timur (Hist, par Sherefeddin Ali, 1. v. c. 37; 1. vi. c. 13) and the coronation of Nadir Shah (Hist. Persanne, p. 3-13, and the English Life by Mr. Jones, p. 64, 65). [From the expression of Theophanes, ra uKpa 71)? 'wpai^ia^, " the heights of Albania," Albania being level, Gerland concludes that Theophanes used the name for all the land north of the Araxes. .According to Sebaeos Heraclius wintered in the mountain regions near Nakitchevan (Russ. transl., p. 103).] ^os Thebarma and Ormia, near the lake Spauto, are proved to be the same city by D'Anville (Memoires de I'Acad^mie, torn, xxviii. p. 564, 565). It is honoured as the birth-place of Zoroaster, according to the Persians (Schultens, Index Geograph. p. 48) ; and their tradition is fortified by M. Perron d'Anquetil (M6m. de I'Acad. des Inscript. toni. xxxi. p. 375), with some texts from /its, or tkeir, Zandavesta. [It is almost certain that 077/3ap^,iis m Theophanes (p. 308) is a mis- take for BrjSap/xot?, as Hoffmann has suggested (.Syrische Akten persischer Miirtyrer, p. 252). By}0apfj.aU would mean the province Beth Armaye, in which Dastagerd was situate. The great fire-temple which Heraclius destroyed was at Gazaka (Sebaeos, c. 26). Cp. Gerland, oJ>. cit., p. 354.] 1"^ I cannot find, and (what is much more) M. d'Anville does not attempt to seek, the Salban, Tarantum, territory of the Huns, &c. mentioned by Theophanes- (p. 260-262). Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. p. 231, 232), an insufficient author, names Asphahan ; and Casbin is most probably the city of Sapor. Ispahan is twenty-four days' journey from Tauris, and Casbin half way between them (Voyages de Tavernier, tom. i. p. 63-82). [Salban has been identified with a village AA.t (Sebaeos, p. 103), in the district of Arjish. north of Lake Van (Gerland, op. cit., p. 360). Taranton is Derindeh on the Aksu, a western tributary of the Euphrates ; it is west of Melitene. The very difficult and uncertain operations in the lands north of the Araxes, and between Lake Van and the upper Euphrates, from end of a. u. 624 to spring of .'V.D. 626, are discussed by Gerland (p. 355 sqq.). An Armenian writer of the tenth century, Moses KaA-ankatari, throws some light, independent of Sebaeos, here.]